About

Mark D Wolfinger

I’ve had a long and fascinating ride as an options trader and learned a great many lessons along the way. The idea behind this blog is to share some of those lessons with you.

Options for Rookies was born in June 2008, and with your help – questions, comments, and support – has become a better blog along the way. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to that improvement.

I began trading options in 1975 by writing covered calls. In December 1976, I was given the rare opportunity to become a market maker at the CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange). I quit my job as a research chemist (Monsanto) and set up residence in Chicago.

Al, my partner, bought a membership, nominated me to have access to the trading floor, put cash into the account and sent me off into the wilderness known as the CBOE trading floor. That’s how I became a market maker.

In those days, there were no put options. Imagine that! No LEAPS, index options, or ETFs. It’s so very different today. We can sit at home, enter orders and get immediate fills. We have software that analyzes our positions. And amazingly, trade commissions are less than those I paid as a market maker in 1977. Nice!

I’ve published four books about options; Three in hard copy and one as an e-book.